Effect of quenching on cookability of some food legumes

Abstract

The cooking time of three varieties of cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata) were determined by sudden and rapid decrease in the temperature (quenching) of boiling cowpea seeds, by the addition of water at a lower temperature. The varieties of cowpea used were, ‘Sokoto white’, ‘Potesco white’ and ‘Ife brown’. The results showed that quenching with water at a temperature of about 62 °C produced the maximum reduction in the cooking time for all the varieties. ‘Sokoto white’ which exhibited the longest cooking time among the cowpea varieties considered showed about 29% reduction in total cooking time while ‘Ife brown’ with the shortest cooking time showed a percentage reduction of about 13%. When the study was extended to another legume, pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan) which has a very long cooking time relative to most cowpea varieties, a 40% reduction in cooking time was observed. However, cooking the varieties with trona, ‘Sokoto white’ and ‘Ife brown’ showed 26% and 30% reduction in cooking time respectively, while the pigeon pea showed 25% reduction.